The Google Directory
Posted July 20, 2005
There is a lot of confusion about DMOZ, Google and the Google directory.
First, many assume you have to be in DMOZ, before you can get in Google. That is totally wrong, it’s very easy to get in Google, and it’s not required to be in DMOZ/ODP for that to happen. However, you cannot be in the Google Directory without being in DMOZ.
So what is the Google Directory? It’s a subset of Google and can be found from the Google main page by selecting more, and then going to Directory - Browse the web by topic
The Google directory is created by copying data from the Open Directory RDF Dump under the rules of the Open Directory License. There many other sites besides Google that do this. Note that Google does not use the same format for displaying the data as does ODP, and the order of the sites is subject to Google’s own rules.
Be aware that Google and ODP are separate entities, and that ODP is not copying anything from Google. Note also the when anyone suggests a site to the Google directory, that causes a link back to ODP for the submission processing, and it is ODP that accepts the suggested sites - not Google.
Google copies sites from ODP in bulk by using the RDF file, and they are the ones that decide when to do it and they define the schedule - ODP has no control of it. Typically updates may be processed around every four weeks, but at times have been substantially slower.
Here it the typical sequence to indicate a typical time frame.
July 12 - an editor adds a new site
July 15 - the sites appears on the ODP public site - it typically takes three days to appear.
July 19 - an RDF dump is created that contains the site. Rdf dumps are created around once a week. If the timing is good, a site could get copied to the RDF dump the same day it was added by the editor.
August 15 - Google copies the RDF data into their directory.
So in a good scenario it take about a month to appear in Google.
If the timing was bad, and at each stage you just missed the cycle, it could take three months to get listed. On the other hand if all went well, you get get into Google in a week or so.
